Incarnation Day

The descendant of a shepherd king,
To shepherds on the hills did sing
The host of angels, near the little town

To lowly Bethlehem they ran
and through a stable door
and in to see the Savior's clan —
a family but poor!

The child abed on straw and fed
amid the foals and fodder
would he slow tread the hills and spread
good news of living water?

The master of the stars that ring
The heavens did each magi/king
haste to follow as the Eastern Star came down

To lowly Bethlehem they rode
and through a stable door
in what was not a King's abode,
An infant to adore.

The child abed on straw and fed
amid the cold and cattle,
stirred wild hatred — King Herod's dread —
and here began the battle!

"What child is this?" the choirs since sing
Why born so low, to us to bring
the message that he came to claim the Crown?

In lowly Bethlehem, God came
behind that stable door
Perfection took a human name
became what we deplore

The child abed on straw and fed
amid the farms of Ephratha
Gold crown he shed for thorns instead
on a trail that would end at Golgotha

When we to Nativity do cling
We miss or lose the "Lamb of God" thing:
True God, true man he turns all upside down

In lowly Bethlehem, he's born
of heavenly power and glory, shorn
our thoughts, our pain, our skin, he's worn
behind that stable door

The child abed on straw and fed
like His sheep all gone astray
is the Man we've fled, Shepherd King we dread
When we sheep continue to stray
When we wander from The Way
When we forget the dreadful Day
when we'll stand face-to-face before Him.

When the creator
who became the created
who identified with our lost cause
Asks: Have you loved as I've loved?

Will we have embraced our own stable
or strode out the door
seeking glory and greatness
and become truly poor?

Or will we have followed Him meekly
From Ephratha to Golgotha
Seeking sheep that continue to stray:
Answering kindly to harsh words they may say
Touching "lepers" — not, in fear, run away —
Not insisting on black/white for every grey
Loving e'en those who reject the Way
serving all, friend or foe, till that Day
When we all come weakly before Him
With no plea but "mercy," before Him
With no hope but His favor, before Him
who in our Manger once lay?